My wife and I went there yesterday. Be sure and call ahead to schedule your tour, because that's…read morehow it's done (and it is very easy and owner very accommodating). This museum is a great little (hidden) gem not far from courthouse. It will especially appeal to people, say, 60 and older, but there's memorabilia in it that kids will love too. Saw lots of things in there that I hadn't seen since my childhood, so I was constantly flooded with memories. We give it two thumbs up!

Fun Time. The owner, Carol, doesn't post hours, he's old…read moreschool just call his number to schedule or get in. He had a super collection of 60's of memorabilia.

Can I give more than 5 stars!? This museum is amazing. If you have children, drop everything and…read moreGO. If you don't have children, also go! It's immersive, interactive, tactile. One of the best museums I've been to (and I've been to a lot). Budget at least two hours and bring food (there's a designated eating area upstairs). KIDS: Before visiting, I didn't know much, only that it was a science museum with some stuff for kids. Well, the amount of children's activities blew me away. The entire top floor is children's exhibits -- a large variety of rooms. You have music and light, engineering (building), space, bubbles, a craft room for older kids. For younger kids, there is a tea party room and a homestead room (all super hands-on, with lots to play with). I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Ultimately, there was a lot to do upstairs and it appealed to a variety of ages. That's just the upstairs! In addition to the kids' top floor, there was a children's play area (under 5) downstairs with a mini grocery store, a fire station, and more. There was also a water play area and a live animal exhibit (snakes, spiders, lizards) plus a little book nook (all downstairs). As if that wasn't enough, there was a traveling exhibit on mosquitos that had a ton of interactive children's content. Like I said, the amount of kids' content blew me away. Needless to say, my kids had a blast. ADULTS: I thought that the adult exhibits were super well done. Everything is very thoughtfully designed. The layout is so pleasant, with color scheme and formatting done just right for the subject. As a lifelong museum-goer and a museum studies major, I just would not shut up about it (sympathies to my husband). Additionally, each exhibit was so interactive and tactile. This is fantastic for adults but also amazing for adults with kids. So hard to go to museums with kids because they get bored when they can't touch stuff. We were actually able to walk around and experience the exhibits while our kids touched any interactive elements. In the history/culture of the local region room, I loved being able to go inside the indigenous housing and touch the wood. Also, the gospel room felt like being inside a tiny church (simple but powerful with a lot of songs to listen to). The other rooms were also really immersive -- the caves, the flora/fauna room (with taxidermied animals), the mammoth excavation underneath the transparent floor, the ability to see an actual paleontologist in the lab cleaning a mammoth bone, the cabinet of curiosities. I loved the design of the cabinet of curiosities and my kids enjoyed opening all the drawers. One tiny complaint -- all the info had to be obtained via their website (very easy with the QR code). However, maybe for some less tech savvy (older?) folks or people who just want to put their phone away, I wished for a bare minimum label just to explain what the objects were. This would allow for a quick glance understanding while also offering the ability to obtain more info via QR code. HISTORIC VILLAGE: On top of all the amazing stuff inside, there is a historic village behind the museum. Unlike many other similar villages which block access inside the buildings entirely, this one actually allowed you to enter several of them. We were able to explore the church, the schoolhouse, and some of the housing (the actual rooms were behind glass in some of the housing). Some fun photo opportunities here. Both adults and kids enjoyed this part! Don't miss it. FEE: For what you get, the admission fee is very reasonable. I've paid more for less. Adults are $12. Kids 2-15 are $10. Under 2 are free. ACCESSIBILITY: This museum seems very committed to maximizing their accessibility. Everything seems to be wheelchair-accessible. They also offer sensory accommodations -- according to their website, they offer sensory backpacks (noise-reducing headphones and fidget tools). STAFF: I found the staff to be very friendly and helpful. Ultimately, this place is wonderful. It's not a huge museum but it felt huge given all they've done with it. Couldn't recommend it more. Honestly, whoever designed this museum, KUDOS to you!

We have been here twice and have loved it both times! There is SO much to do. So many floors and…read morethemed rooms of fun for all ages (bubble room, craft room, trains, grocery store, sound and light, tea room, etc). This is also a great value! Admission was affordable and was part of our "GetOut" austin passes. The only tricky thing may be parking. There are a lot of spaces, but each time we've gone it's been a full lot. Would definitely recommend this place for kiddos!

This place has a lot history and fact that most people don't know. It is well laid out. There is a…read morefew interactive things to do. So Big and Small children don't get bored.

Having watched the CW's "Walker" featuring Jared Padalecki, I've been itching to check out the…read moreTexas Ranger Museum! If you're thinking it's a museum for the baseball team like Tracy P. thought, uhm, it's not. Haha. Texas Rangers have an illustrious history. Surprisingly, not all TR's were good, but for the most part they were lawmen. Do watch the 45-minute film before touring the museum which helped me appreciate the exhibits as it ties the TRs with almost every aspect of Texas history. There are interactive exhibits so you can pick up and feel the weight of a TR gun. And there are somber reminders of the most famous Waco incident. Expect to spend a decent couple of hours here and stop by the gift shop for a memorabilia. Only $10.50 per adult admission. Enjoyed it! Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and NY.

Think of this is as cheap children's museum in your backyard. It's an old school building, and…read moreevery classroom has a ton of activities for elementary and under. It's not super clean, or super new, as it runs mostly on volunteers and donations, but if you're looking for an indoor place to take your kid(s) for some imaginative playtime with role playing, art, building, and a little bit of being active, then this is a great option. $5 per kid and $2 per adult (cheaper for grandparents and under-twos).

My kids love the Imagination Station! Originally it was in Joshua but has moved to an old school…read morebuilding in Cleburne. It still very much looks like a school inside but all of the classrooms have been changed into themed playrooms. They have a room with a big sand pit, an arts & crafts room, a music room, a black light room with lots of fun glow in the dark play, a Lowes construction room, a stuffed animal hospital, and a party room. It's a little small and a bit dated but it's extremely affordable and my kids have a ton of fun. They have picnic tables outside so you could easily pack a lunch and spend a whole day there. Check out their Facebook page for upcoming events. Prices $2.00 Adults 18+ $5.00 Children 2-17 $3.00 Children 12 months-23 months $1.00 Grandparents

I'm a sucker for history especially when it comes to institutions,prisons,insane asylum,hospitals…read more In this case,the old original Hood County Texas Stone jail house. This style is very indicative of what was built as counties were establishing their infrastructure back in the 1800s. This is a good one. Don't miss it,.

The Hood County Jail and Historical Museum was such a great find! It was surprisingly dog…read morefriendly, although we held our little terriers most of the tour. The docents there are very knowledgeable and passionate about the Jail history and the history of Hood County. Upstairs has the jail holding areas, and downstairs has the old sheriff's quarters. There is also a few rooms that are dedicated more to Hood County history and have a museum feel to it. Our docent was super friendly and also took us over to see the historical cabin a few doors down. Highly recommended for any history buff!

Wasn't sure what to expect but really glad we stopped by while in Waco. The staff was friendly and…read moreinformative. The dig site was a short walk and was in an air conditioned building. Thank goodness due to the heat and humidity in late Sept! Interesting and fascinating. Only took about 1.5 hours even with an informative session with one of the park tour guides.

As a National Park enthusiast, I was really excited to learn this site wasn't too far from my…read morefriend's house and so I was ecstatic to visit Waco Mammoth National Monument while in Texas. I'm also glad I happened to bring my National Park passport (you just never know!) Anyway, Waco Mammoth is definitely one of the more unusual units of the National Park System I've visited but also worth the visit!!! The history behind the site is fascinating. After two men discovered bones in 1978, researchers from Baylor University and other institutions began excavating the area and quickly realized they had uncovered something incredible! More and more fossils were found and in 2015 my guy President Obama established the site as an official unit of the National Park System. Though, one thing visitors should know ahead of time is that even though this is a National Park Service site, our America the Beautiful passes do NOT work here. General entry to the park grounds is free, but there is a separate fee to enter the dig shelter because it is operated in partnership with the City of Waco to help support preservation efforts. The actual dig shelter is absolutely the highlight of the experience, though you'll need to join a guided tour led by a docent. Hopefully you end up with one who is especially knowledgeable and enthusiastic because that really makes the experience come alive. I loved seeing the nation's first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of Colombian Mammoths from the Ice Age! So neat. At least 19 mammoths were discovered and the jury (err, scientists) are still out on how exactly these mammoths came to be trapped at this site/the reasoning for their passing. Anyway, this is a fascinating stop and absolutely worth visiting if you're in the Waco area, especially if you enjoy history, science, paleontology, or just visiting National Park units. It's not a full-day destination by any means, but it's definitely educational, memorable, and offers something very different from the typical national park experience!

What a neat place to visit for dinosaur fans! We spent a little over 3 hours here with my almost 2…read moreyear old. She had a blast looking at all the dinosaurs. I was shocked how few I recognized. Many dinosaur books do not talk about some of the ones here. I wish they had a book about all of the books you saw during the visit. I would definitely buy it! Most of the books at the gift shop were cartoons or with just a few pictures and a lot of facts. Some fun little things: feeding koi fish on the path, some benches in the shade to eat a snack while walking, two large playgrounds with many picnic tables and a museum to look more facts about dinosaurs. I do wish they would tell us more about the dinosaur prints found in dinosaur state valley park. Many dinosaurs here were found in Canada, Asia, Europe, or Africa. Only a few were around here. I did love to learn about the only one found in a cow farm in Kansas! Overall, it was a great trip, and I would recommend to any dinosaur fans! If you come on a day, 80+ degrees, it will be hot, so bring lots of water, hats, sunscreen, fans, and cool clothes. There is some shade on the trail to get some relief. There is a changing table in the bathrooms with 4 stalls, so it's not too long of a wait when lines form.

Not ADA friendly. May need to limit age and tell public the trail is steep. Hard to negotiateread more

This was a neat experience. It was highly recommended and I had no idea about the history of Dr…read more Pepper. Overall, it was really cool to learn more not only about the soda, but the city of Waco, and the overall history of soda too! I like how the areas of the museum were split up and there was a lot to see and learn. I thought it was going to be a little less historical, more fun, with all kinds of products to try. At the end of the tour you can get a hand crafted soda from one of the soda jerks and I don't know if it was the Texas heat, the fact that it was so freshly made, or that I just hadn't had a full sugar soda in a while but oh my goodness!!!!! I still think about how sweet and refreshing the root beer and Dr Pepper we had were. When in Waco, get a Dr Pepper.

This was such a fun experience. We took a speed tour as we got there 40 minutes before closing and…read morewere truly there for the gift shop and drink at the end. This is your usual gimmicky side of the road stop that feels very old yet interesting to experience. Bonus Points for the "Lil Sweet" Funko Pop i got to purchase Also shout out to the employees all of them were wonderful, informative and kind. I'll be suggesting this to anyone I know who comes through town.